This week’s Sepia Saturday is, “Reflections on Paddling in the Lake or Sea.” Part of me thought about using some of the houseboat and barge photos from my husband’s Dutch family, but that’s on canals and doesn’t quite fit the theme. I suppose I can save those for another week (they’re awesome photos, and I hope rivers/canals comes up as a theme!).
The photos I’ve got this week are somewhat more recent, but came out really lovely and share a neat snippet of my great grandmother’s life that I hadn’t known about before. She had a childhood friend, Mildred Witherow (b. 25 Dec 1906 in Pennsylvania, d. 12 Apr 1972 in Pontiac, Michigan), who moved out to Michigan from Pennsylvania at some point. I think my parents mentioned her visiting someone in the midwest, but they didn’t know who specifically. While scanning the trunk full of photos, I came across a set that were nicely labelled (it’s a rare thing to find a labelled photo in the trunk), with witty commentary and dates on the photos. I think it’s really sweet they kept in touch, visited eachother, and still had silly adventures. Mildred, affectionately called “Mid,” never married and my great grandma Olga (Powis) Kitko was married for a short while, but she spent most of her adult life as a single gal, raising her son amongst family.
I have absolutely no idea which lake this was, but I do know it was taken prior to September 1960 and somewhere around Pontiac, Michigan. There are SO MANY lakes around that area, it’s impossible for me to narrow down at all. The caption is exactly what great grandma wrote on the back of the photo in pencil (YAY PENCIL!).
Two lovely ladies on a pier! I am just in love with this photo and have a funny feeling that the “driver” may have taken the photo. But really, how great is this? Two childhood friends, in their late 50s, early 60s, in lovely summer dresses out for a day on the lake. The driver mentioned here is Mid’s brother, Alvin (b. 1 Jun 1914, d. 26 Mar 1989). The vacation seems to have been for a small family gathering too – the other photos in this set show a group of people sitting around a table for dinner.
Hmm, for a motor boat, that sure does look like a paddle, fitting us nicely into the theme for this week’s Sepia Saturday. Yeah, I know, he was probably using it to get into the dock safely since the water was maybe too shallow for the propeller. These photos aren’t necessarily sepia toned or super old, but the whole point of Sepia Saturday is that there are no rules and to share photos along with the story behind them, and I’ve always had a fondness for this set of images, so there they are!
BONUS IMAGE, because while it’s not a photo, it relates to the story here a little, showing the friendship these two had over the years. It’s a simple postcard, but these gals kept in touch for so long, and it’s so cute to see a postcard from Mid to Olga about daily life in Michigan. Post date is 26 Apr 1947, well before the images above, but helps to establish that these two were close friends their whole lives.
Wonder what lake it was.
I really have no clue – just looking at the area, there are dozens upon dozens of tiny lakes all over. None of the photos mention the lake, so it’s really hard to narrow down precisely which one.
It’s a very special thing to stay in touch with old friends. Because of my husband’s job (when he was working) we moved around a bit, so our special greetings list is a bit long since we’ve kept in touch with many of the neighbors we befriended & were befriended by in the different places we’ve lived. And I’m still in touch with young friends I grew up with as is my husband. Really special!
That’s so neat! I have a close friend from my college days that I always send postcards to when we travel. I know she appreciates them, so it’s nice knowing that maybe some day down the line, one of my postcards will end up on a blog 😛
There’s something wonderfully surreal about the photo with them standing on the dock with the empty boat behind them. They seem to be floating.
It’s really one of my favorite photos out of the trunk – there are many that I love, but this one has always stood out for me.
Lovely to have these photos to establish the length of the friendship. Facebook does us a disservice in so many ways. I love the striped dress – so carefully sewn that all the stripes match in the centre front seam – not an easy thing to do.
I wholeheartedly agree. Having physical mementos from time spent together is such a treasure. As much as I love digital media and all that, it’s not the same! We did find some of Olga’s old patterns that she had mail ordered, so I’m fairly sure she did sew that herself. That same dress is in a bunch of other photos so it surely was a favorite.
“Dixie” seems like an odd name for a highway in Michigan.
There’s actually a lot of backstory on that highway and its name if you’re interested!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Highway
Mid’s white anklets and little-heeled shoes! Love it.
Aren’t they great? Even just going out on a boat ride, they were dressed up!